Saint Sang suspected that the Saintess inside the city might recognize her.
So before entering the city, Saint Sang deliberately disguised herself, just in case the Saintess really remembered her existence.
After all, the Teacher was a Cardinal of the Church, and it was quite normal for the Saintess to remember people closely related to the Teacher.
But she hadn’t expected the Saintess to see through her disguise so easily.
From the very beginning, she anticipated that using magical disguise would leave traces detectable by the Saintess, so she didn’t use any magic at all.
Instead, she relied purely on exquisite makeup techniques to disguise herself.
In theory, since she and the Saintess hadn’t met often or exchanged many words, the other party shouldn’t have been able to recognize her.
“Also, you don’t really understand what it’s like to be a Saintess,” Cecilia sighed, then pointed to her chest.
“You see, I can sense the differences in every Church believer. Those who have used sacred magic inevitably leave traces in their bodies. These are hard to detect on a magical level but are easy for me to perceive.”
“And the traces inside your body, I memorized a long time ago.”
The Church’s divine power and magic shared the same origin in essence, but they operated within different power systems.
Because the Saintess had the most acute perception of this power, she could distinguish others by the traces left in their bodies from prolonged use of sacred magic.
As for why she remembered the marks of a student of a Cardinal so deeply…
It was because that old man was a direct disciple of Saint Via, the saint’s most proud student.
To Cecilia, who worshiped Saint Via, Denoya left a particularly deep impression, and naturally, his student was remembered as well.
In short, she revered Saint Via, so the entire Via lineage left a special mark on her.
Of course, she wouldn’t say this reason out loud to Saint Sang.
“Well then, respected Holy Inquisitor, clearly you weren’t prepared to be discovered by me,” Cecilia said calmly as she looked at her.
“So, what will you do next? Should I report you to the Demon Lord, or will you leave this city?”
Saint Sang pondered, her hand gently touching the letter hidden in her bosom beneath her clothes.
The Teacher’s instructions echoed in her mind: if anything went wrong, hand this letter to the Demon Lord Via…
This was a life-saving letter, but she didn’t want to use it just yet.
Since Cecilia had chosen to use sacred magic to block their conversation, it showed she might not intend to report her immediately.
If that was the case, there was still room for negotiation.
With that thought, Saint Sang met the Saintess’s gaze directly.
“Ms. Cecilia… please allow me to address you as such for now. I don’t want the Demon Lord to know my identity.”
“I know. So, you have to tell me why you came here.”
Cecilia flicked her long hair, her gaze still gentle.
“On that point, I cannot disclose.”
“Saint Sang, I think you understand the consequences of being discovered as a spy here. If you don’t want to tell me your purpose, then allow me to give you some advice—”
“You’re here, and I won’t report this to Senior… Miss Via. You can gather information on the demons here and conduct your intelligence investigation, but if you try to threaten Miss Via’s personal safety…”
“Then I will have no choice but to break the balance between us.”
Cecilia’s warning held no hint of jest.
She didn’t harbor much hatred toward humans.
She did hate those who betrayed her, but she didn’t consider herself a demon. Hating traitors didn’t mean hating everyone.
So she wouldn’t eliminate the entire Saint Sang before her.
But if Saint Sang threatened Via’s safety, Cecilia wouldn’t tolerate it any longer.
“What do you mean?”
“I’ll allow you to make some small moves here, but you’re not allowed to harm her.”
Cecilia reiterated clearly.
Facing this familiar yet strange Saintess, Saint Sang paused briefly, then nodded.
Since she’d already been discovered, it was better to be straightforward.
She didn’t know why the Saintess wanted her to avoid harming the Demon Lord, but for now, she had no choice but to agree.
Otherwise, given the Saintess’s current state, before she could even open the letter the Teacher left for the Demon Lord herself, the Saintess would have torn her apart.
She was somewhat familiar with the Saintess’s strength; at least for now, there was still a certain “small gap” between them.
“That’s right. Good girl for being obedient.”
Cecilia smiled warmly and withdrew the spell, praising her.
“What were you two talking about just now?”
The people nearby didn’t know what kind of negotiation had taken place between the two.
From their perspective, these two seemed to be on good terms but suddenly fell silent mid-conversation.
Everyone knew it was a sound-blocking spell, but they were still curious what the two had said inside.
“Just routine inspection of outsiders. I was asking her some necessary questions,” Cecilia replied dismissively.
As the boss’s voice rang out again, Cecilia took the coffee and cookies the boss had prepared and left with the box in hand.
***
Demon Lord’s Mansion.
Cecilia knocked on the door.
Then, the heavy mansion door creaked as an invisible force pulled it open.
“I’m back.”
Holding coffee and cookies, Cecilia walked from the hall up the stairs, all the way to Via’s office.
When she pushed open the office door, Via was sitting on her swivel chair.
This unique swivel chair was a fashionable human gadget, quite rare among demons.
Via was spinning on it with great satisfaction, but when she grew tired, she slumped back in the chair and kicked her legs out.
She slid far across the floor in one swift motion.
Cecilia stared at the abstract scene before her, fell silent for a moment, then stepped back a little and glanced at the sign on the door to confirm this was indeed the Demon Lord’s office.
At this moment, Via looked up and saw Cecilia.
Their eyes met and locked for a long while.
Then Via quickly switched to a cold demeanor:
“You’re back?”
“…Maybe I came back too early.”
“No, you came back just in time,” Via interrupted her swiftly before she could continue.
“So, did you bring everything you were supposed to?”
“I did. Here, eat up. I waited in line for a long time to get these.”
That was a lie.
The Saintess hadn’t queued at all. She even had the leisure to sit there and drink.